A picture appearing to show a pig smiling while being rescued from a flooded town in China has become viral.
The image, reportedly taken in Yibin County, Sichuan Province, shows the animal seemingly feeling happy as two people tried to carry it to a safe place.
A heavy storm battered the majority of the province from yesterday, and residents were evacuated after the water levels started to rise.
The picture (above), which appears to show a pig smiling while being dragged in floodwaters during excavation, has become viral on Chinese social media
The picture first appeared yesterday on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, posted by a user, whose screen name is ‘hou sheng’.
In the picture, two men, dressed in green uniforms, each held an ear and a front leg of the pig as they dragged it in floodwaters.
According to various reports from major Chinese media, including Sina.com, Huanqiu.com and Btime.com, the residents were trying to remove goods and livestock from the town of Hengjiang after a heavy storm
After the picture became popular, thousands of people have left comments on Weibo to give their own interpretations of the amusing scene.
Many wondered how the pig could be happy when it might end up being eaten.
Others compared the picture to the news from Britain earlier this week about a litter of piglets saved from a burning barn ending up being made into sausages by their owners as a thank-you to the firemen.
A man sits next to the pigs he rescued from the flood in Tuanshanhu village near Changsha, Hunan, China, on July 2. Many parts of China have been ravaged by floods this summer
People walk through a flooded street as Typhoon Hato hits Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, August 23. The typhoon has left 16 people dead after battering southern China
Commenting on the picture, one user wrote on Weibo: ‘It might be smiling on its face, but it’s cursing in its heart.’
Another user said: ‘The pig thought it was saved, but it wouldn’t escape the fate of being killed.’
A third caption read: ‘The men weren’t saving the pig. They just wanted to eat the pig.’
Some people added funny captions to the picture to explain what the pig might be thinking at the time.
Rescuers evacuate residents with a boat on a flooded street after heavy rainfalls hit Xianning, Hubei province, China, on August 13
One caption said: ‘Let me go. Let me go by myself.’
Another caption read: ‘I will die sooner or later. It’s just a matter of time.’
A third caption stated: ‘I could survive the floods, but I couldn’t survive you guys.’
The county of Yibin was heavily flooded today after the rainstorm.
A total of 135 households with 281 residents were evacuated from Hengjiang town, reported Sichuan Online.
A video clip was released by Pear Video showing the locals struggling to evacuated their pigs as around six or seven people had to join forces to lift one pig onto a truck.